Student companies set out their wares (From The Oxford Times)
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Student companies set out their wares
7:00am Monday 28th January 2013 in News
By Pete Hughes, Reporter. Call me on 01865 425431
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Doris He, 16, Zoe Ho, 17, and Jessie Lam, 17, of Rye St Antony School
TEENAGERS are beating the recession by starting their own businesses.
Schoolchildren from across Oxfordshire set up stall in Templars Square shopping centre in Cowley on Saturday.
Shoppers had a chance to buy hi-tech cookery books, handmade chalk boards and imported Kenyan pyjamas.
Oxford High School student Isabel Yue, 17, is finance director at Ink, which has produced an interactive children’s cookery book. Each recipe has a QR code that links to a YouTube clip of a child making each recipe when scanned with a mobile phone.
Miss Yue said: “A lot of the meals are really healthy, and this is proper food. Hopefully it will help get children interested in food.”
The company created the book in 10 days, writing all the recipes and filming and uploading the videos themselves. Ink is currently is discussions about teaming up with a supermarket to sell the children’s cook book and the follow-up student cookbook.
Lucy Davies, 14, from Abingdon, helped set up Chez Moi.
The company sells handmade heart-shaped chalk boards and refurbished school desks bought from their school, St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon.
She said: “I think it’s really good fun and a new experience and we are learning a lot of new skills. It’s not just about the money, it’s about doing something outside of school.”
Each business is hoping to win this year’s international Young Enterprise (YE) competition.
Out of 20 companies that were started in Oxfordshire last September, 17 had their first public exhibition on Saturday.
Two businesses were stymied when their suppliers fell through.
Another team is running a babysitting business, and chose not to have a stall.
A secret shopper from the YE competition judged each business on its product and customer service. If the companies make it through county finals, they stand a chance of getting into the European final.
In 2011, board game maker Gibsons was so impressed with the Cosmic game produced by the Oxford High School team that it now manufactures it.
YE Oxfordshire manager Susan Ledgard-Hoile said: “Youth unemployment is a real buzz word at the moment. One fifth of all 16 to 24-year-olds are currently unemployed. This competition can show teenagers that they can run their own business.”
All the businesses register with Companies House, and pay corporation tax and VAT. They can sell up to 500 shares at £1 each.
The next YE trade fair will be at the Castle Quay shopping centre in Banbury on February 23.
Comments(6)
train passenger
says...
8:04am Mon 28 Jan 13
Sandy Wimpole-Smythe wrote:That's right, these kids were never going to be unemployed, this is simply another step in the CV filling process, financed by well-off parents to ensure their children will be well off themselves - all these kids will be going to university instead of growing their business further, believe me. Nothing necessarily wrong with that and good for them, but let us not pretend that perpetual intergenerational transfer of resources will help with youth unemployment. Tackling the 'charity' status of private schools might be a step in the right direction though.
How many of these 'companies' have been set up by private school pupils and how many are from state school pupils ?
Myron Blatz
says...
10:13am Mon 28 Jan 13
Grunden Skip
says...
4:26pm Mon 28 Jan 13
Kropotkin
says...
6:42pm Mon 28 Jan 13
Buzz. Buzz.
musicgirl17
says...
6:43pm Mon 25 Feb 13
Grunden Skip wrote:Can I just say that I think you are giving these kids an unfair chance. There were both state and private schools at the trade fair, but this did not have an impact on the fair or the price. Each company has had to raise their own money using their own ideas. Little help is given by teachers - it's almost entirely the students choice. All companies had to pay a fee to get a stall paid from COMPANY money. Students are not permitted to use their personal money, so their background has no impact on their success. All these kids are trying to do is set up a business - give them a chance for crying out loud!
If kids from nearby Blackbird Leys wanted a stall to sell their goods in Templars Square. (Cowley Centre to the rest of us) it would be no problem if they want to pay for the pitch (which obviously they can't afford) Poshy kids from Oxford High School (current fees £11,601 per year) get given a free stall and a patronising (for us) advert masquerading as a news story in The Local Rag. Isn't life under the Tories just grand. By the way, shouldn't they have been doing this in Summertown, and giving the local Cowley kids a free run in Cowley Centre.
Also, private school kids don't just go to school, do no work and magically pass their exams - they work blooming hard to get the grades they want. Anybody can succeed, as long as they work for it.
ALL the kids in cowley worked hard for their stalls and everybody achieved in their own way.
Sandy Wimpole-Smythe says...
7:24am Mon 28 Jan 13